


Neighbor Labor

by Cascy, FireflyRain



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Big Sans, CHARACTERS WILL ALSO BE ADDED AS WE GO, Character's gender is ambiguous, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Multi, POV Second Person, Post-Pacifist Route, RATING WILL CHANGE AS IT UPDATES, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader holds a grudge, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Swearing, THAT IS A PROMISE, along with other cool tags that become relevant, polyamory ahoy!, sans is a big shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5695540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cascy/pseuds/Cascy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflyRain/pseuds/FireflyRain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A friendly skeleton and his insufferable brother move into the apartment next to yours, and all you want is a degree and some god damn sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Neighbor Labor

5:15 pm.

The geese above you were honking wildly, the puddle-covered cement below you- cold and fresh, the scent of rain still in the air from earlier today. You waited at a crosswalk patiently until the LED sign turned green to allow you to step over the black asphalt, passing by the front of cars that hummed loudly in your ears with their headlights that seemed to watch you. They judged each step you took as you traversed to the other side of the street. 

The time was 5:16. It was a Saturday afternoon in mid-November. The wind blew through you easily as you moved against it, chilling you through and through as you turned to the right ahead of you down a sidewalk, passing some shops. Cafes, autoparts, law firms- open or closed, you didn’t know. You stopped paying attention to the details of your routine walk home from work at the beginning of the fall semester.

You finally met with your apartment complex- an extraordinarily ordinary little place. If there was a list for  _ Most Ordinary Places to Live On Planet Earth _ , this may easily be in the top ten. Small rooms, bland walls and carpets, and forgettable neighbors, to be perfectly honest. You strode inside, rummaging through your coat to grab your room key, an ordinary square-ended silver little trinket that dangled a delightful tune with your keychains of interests both new and old, and car keys that were, in all honestly, neglected. 

You briefly wondered if there is a layer of dust on your car now, or if it’s even still in the apartment complex’ parking lot, car-napped ages ago without a second thought. When was the last time you checked?

You turned the key into the slot of your door on the second floor and opened it with the brunt of your shoulder into a room equally as typical and ordinary as the rest of the complex.

It was a small but cozy little place: a living room with an average TV against a wall, propped up by a set of wooden drawers, followed by a glass-covered coffee table in the center of the room flanked by two stained (but honestly, pretty comfortable) mismatched couches that you picked up at a garage sale surrounding it.

You chanced a glance at the clock on the wall, a dingy thing you picked up at a different garage sale when you first moved here because you thought it was “quirky.” The time read 5:21. The sigh that escaped you was enough to rattle your bones, harshness built by days of unsolvable frustration.

You only had a few hours, just a few sparse hours in which to prepare yourself for another unremarkable...but exhausting evening. Your routine continued to follow as it always did. You meandered into the kitchen, yanking open the fridge and finding that you were almost out of your favorite juice. Damn, you weren’t due to go to the store for another few days. But it was your favorite- and maybe you could allow a quick run tonight. But probably not.

The clock on your microwave told you it was 5:24, and you restricted yourself from sighing again as you tugged back a chair with an unpleasant scrape on the tile from the kitchen bar. You sat down and tried to enjoy your juice, though the feelings of anxiety and anxiousness that scratched around in your chest did a lot to bridle your enthusiasm.

A jaunty tune was tapped by your fingers onto the counter, one that had been stuck in your head all day but didn’t interest you in the slightest. In a few minutes the empty juice glass went in the sink, and the unenthused you went to your room down the hall.

Your bedroom was as cramped and boring as the rest of the place, but it was home. You had, upon moving in, hung up a few things that made the room more personalized. It was colourful and bright enough to keep you from feeling claustrophobic. Or at least, that’s what you told yourself as you plopped into the desk chair. Now came the time of evening where you tried to get your homework done. “Try” was the keyword there. You were lucky that you had free time during the day, around your other classes in which to work on things in the library. Else this aspect of your life would change from “annoying and difficult,” to “actually impossible.” You blamed your past self for making some unmemorable mistakes that doomed you to the troubles you faced now. 

Was karma having an infinite laugh at you for something you only mildly deserved? Probably. What did you do, spit on a baby? Hell if you knew. Maybe you failed a test in middle school. 

Either way, you weren’t laughing. 

One Works Cited page later and the clock on your laptop corner read that it was just past seven. You should probably get something to eat and maybe go on that juice run, but you really wanted to get as much done as possible before-

Welp, there goes your evening.

It was a bit earlier than normal, but the unmistakable sound of floor-vibrating, wall-shaking, your-night-ruining music came blasting through the hall. There was no way you could focus now. Great.

You decided to get something to eat anyway, standing and pushing in your chair with way more force than was actually necessary, and as you walked to the kitchen you felt like your life was being soundtracked by one of the new ear-bleach synthpop songs from that robot guy’s new album. 

_ I can’t change that I’m a star- i caught my dreams and came this far! _

The motivating lyrics were, surprisingly, unmotivating. Maybe instead of karma, it was your next-door neighbors having a good laugh at your expense. Well  _ hah hah hah _ . You continued down this bitter line of thinking as you made a sandwich. They had only moved in the previous week, and though you were a bit worried by a few very loud voices that had come from the hallway while boxes were moved, you had remained mostly unbothered.

If you had only known. 

But that was really worthless to dwell on, you thought, angrily chewing at the bland product of your pantry. What would you have done, planted drugs in the room so they’d get kicked out? You didn’t even know where you’d get something like that, and you felt a little guilt upon even flirting with the idea. You hadn’t even seen or spoken to them, but after a week of relative silence suddenly you were barraged by nightly club noises pouring from their room.

You had called to complain, but your landlord told you that the noise seemed to be limited to the thin wall separating your rooms. 

That didn’t help you sleep at night.

Sandwich reduced to nothing but crumbs on your fingertips and paper momentarily forgotten, you decided just to try to go to bed. After all, it was only Saturday, it was a long day at work, and you had tomorrow and the rest of the week to catch up on the lost sleep and also work on that essay. They couldn’t party for more than a few days, right?

  
Right.


	2. Neighbor, Neighbor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...Right?

It was 3:35

A.M.

Three

Thirty

Five

In the fucking _morning_.

Your hands were currently fisted in the sheets before you, which had long since moved from the “comfortable to fall asleep in” to “comfortable to wake up in” temperature. The problem here being that you, obviously, had not yet fallen asleep. But this lack of slumber was not your fault, oh no. The music that was currently _blaring_ through the wall made you very aware of this fact.

You had spent the first few hours fitfully tossing and turning, pillow being placed over your head to try to muffle the sounds before you finally gave up and simply stared up at the ceiling, making patterns in your mind. Now you just wanted to scream, or cry, or kill someone. Whichever came first.

Sitting up with a start, you came to the sudden decision that you could not allow things to go on this way any longer. The music which pounded through the wall, the muffled voices that plagued your ears with almost-conversations throughout the long hours of the night. It was simply too much and you would not stand for it. You were a person for god’s sake! A person with needs, and as much as you liked to deny it when you were on a movie binge, one of those needs was to sleep. This need became very present with the throbbing headache that presented itself from sitting up too fast. You ignored it, along with the heaviness behind your eyes as you climbed out of bed.

This had to stop, and it had to stop tonight. That became your inner mantra and you pulled a shirt that you had left hanging on the edge of your bed over the tank top you had been trying to sleep in. Your shorts and bare feet would have to do, not really giving a damn at this point about your appearance. If you looked wild and scary, fine, they should be scared.

With this attitude you stalked from your apartment, turning sharply to the door only a few feet from your own. The dim lights in the hall only further accentuated the grey bleakness of it, and the fact that you couldn’t actually hear the awful music from here only further added to your anger.

Steeling yourself, you lifted your hand to the offending door, but for some reason found yourself hesitating. What if they were thugs? Thugs with guns? That’s ridiculous. You just have to politely ask them to keep it down, and all of your problems will be solved.

You knocked twice.

...Nothing happened.

You knocked again, a little harder.

But nobody came.

You couldn’t even hear a shuffle behind the door.

With mounting frustration you finally pounded your fist against it, dropping it and breathing angrily. You would not be ignored!

Right when you were prepared to knock again, the knob turned with a click, door swinging open to reveal flashing lights and perhaps the biggest surprise of your whole life.

“OH- HELLO!”

In front of you stood an impossibly tall...person. Kind of. In fact this person wasn’t even a person at all but actually a skeleton that had opened the door and was speaking to you. One that was staring down at you expectantly.

The...skeleton barely fit in the doorframe, hunched forward a bit to look down at you with a friendly expression. A magenta crop-top that read “Be the hero!” with loud bolded text hung loosely from its frame, and from how it was leaning towards you the colourful strobe lights from inside flashed through its ribs.

You thought you might faint.

It wasn’t that monsters were uncommon, no, you saw monsters all the time. But seeing one that was less cute-fuzzy-friend and more human-without-skin was...very jarring, to say the least.

“UHM, HUMAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

You recognized the (undoubtedly male) voice from the day they moved in, and realized that he was still expecting you to explain why you came knocking on his door in the middle of the night.

“Uhm.”

This definitely wasn’t going as planned. You found yourself shifting from foot to foot, anger and determination completely thrown off by the unexpected appearance of the skeleton in front of you. He reached a hand as if to wave it in front of your face, and you flinched away. Oh god you could see all the individual bones.

“Could you just- please be quiet _Ican’tsleep_.” your voice came out way softer than you wanted, but before he could ask you to clarify you had taken off and dissapeared into your own room.

The skeleton looked after you for a moment, metaphorical eyebrow raised before scratching the back of his neck and hesitantly closing the door. You, on the other hand, stood with your back to your own door, breathing heavily, a hand pressed to your chest. What the fuck was that? You were usually not even close to that meek. Still shocked by what you had seen and confused at your own behavior, you wandered back to your room with the promise that if you had to do that again, it would go much better. For now though, the best thing to do would be to try and get some sleep.

  
The music didn't get any quieter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> F: That didn't quite go how you expected it to. But it'll work out better next time, right?  
> C: lmao


	3. Neighbor Hater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finally meet... him.

 

For almost a week straight you had put up with this nonsense. To say that you were near the end of your rope was an understatement. Every single night since last Saturday you had gone to the room next door. Every single night you had knocked on that door only to be answered by the skeleton man who later introduced himself as Papyrus, and every single night you had pretty much chickened out and murmured something akin to what you truly came for before running off. 

You didn’t know what your problem was. The guy actually seemed pretty nice! But for some reason it had taken you almost a whole week to actually get what you wanted across, a feat that you seem to have been incapable of on your own. 

Last night had been the absolute worst. At around four in the morning you had made the fateful trip down the hall, fully prepared to follow the same set of circumstances that had been occurring for the past five days. You knocked. He answered. You mutter and turn to go. 

But to your surprise, a skeletal hand darted out and caught your arm. You made a very undignified sound as your escape was prevented, forcing you to instead look up into the face of the one you had been living out this odd repeat scene with for this long now. He looked...concerned, as far as his bony face could allow. 

“PLEASE, HUMAN,” came his voice, as loud as it was when he always greeted you. You wondered whether he was trying to be heard over the music that, with the door open, definitely did spill into the hall, or whether he always spoke like that. “LET US NOT CONTINUE THIS ANY LONGER.” You stared up at him in shock as he kept on, letting go of you slowly but holding up both hands like you were a wild animal he was hoping not to startle.

“DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY ME, HUMAN. FOR I KNOW I AM VERY GREAT, AND THAT MY PRESENCE STRIKES FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF ALL WHOM SERVE THE FORCES OF DARKNESS. BUT I CAN TELL THAT YOU ARE NO EVILDOER, AND THAT THERE IS SOME GREATER CAUSE BEHIND YOUR REPEATED AND FRUITLESS VISITS TO MY HOME, HUMAN. SO PLEASE, TELL ME WHAT HAS BEEN PLAGUING YOU!”

You were absolutely speechless for several moments, not sure what about the impromptu speech left you this way, though it could have been anything because there was a lot to be surprised in that. He seemed to be patient with you, again reminding you of how one would treat some easily startled woodland creature as he smiled down at you kindly. (Then again, you had never seen him  _ not  _ smiling. Not that you had seen him much outside of nights like these.) 

Finally after what felt like a long moment of silence you managed to pluck up the ability to talk, explaining that you lived next door, and that the music every night had kept you awake for nights on end. The frustration built as you told how you had started falling asleep in classes, how you hadn’t been able to focus on a paper that was due in a week, how you weren’t able to do much of anything. He seemed absolutely horrified as tears of exhaustion and helplessness that had been stinging your eyes throughout your explanation finally betrayed you by slowly rolling down your face. He flinched and straightened in shock as he spotted the droplets.

“OH, HUMAN- I AM SO SORRY! I HAD NO IDEA OUR MERRY-MAKING WAS DISRUPTING YOUR SLUMBER!” For the second time that night you were thrown for a loop when long arms suddenly wrapped around you, pulling you into a bone-crushing hug. (You internally cringed at the pun.)

“Oh- uhm, it’s okay.” You squirmed, arms pinned to your sides as you awkwardly stared up at his collarbone. When he finally released you, it was with the promise that this wouldn’t happen again and a wave. Thankfully upon his release, you finally could reach and wipe your tears on the back of your arm, trying to regain at least some of your dignity lost in a moment of weakness. You turned to stumble back to your room, and when you fell into bed a few minutes later in a heap of relief and tiredness, there was surprisingly no music- somehow fading away by the time you finally curled into the sheets and closed your eyes. 

So today, fully rested, you had walked with a pep in your step, fully expecting to get another good night’s sleep. This thought carried you throughout this cloudy and gloomy Saturday. It kept you focused at work, and even when working on your paper. It kept you cheerful even when you started to dread returning to campus and your boring classes on Monday. That hope that brightened your heart and made you wistful for your bed. 

However...

The time was exactly nine forty-three when that hope was dashed and shattered into a thousand pieces as the unmistakable thump and hum of a beat and bass started pouring in through the shared wall between you and the apartment next door. 

Music. That skeletal bastard had lied to you. The betrayal and outrage threatened to explode in your chest as you thought of how gentle he had seemed and how nice and mindful he had been to you. It was all for fucking nothing. You were fuming, and with a new and very furious mindset you stalked down the hall for what you were set on being the last time. 

Wasting no time with nervousness, your fist bashed on the door, hard, four times.  _ BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.  _

There was movement behind the door as the shadows underneath it suggested, and your blind anger overrode your surprise as the one who was not your usual partner in the nightly events opened the door. Instead, they revealed to be a skeleton of a much less impressive stature leaning heavily on the doorframe. It kept you from being shocked at a stockiness that normally you would find intimidating, dwarfing you in a different respect than the skeleton you usually dealt with. It even kept you from jumping as the fucker blew a party horn in your face, the twirled end unraveling and almost extending to tickle your nose.

“Sup?” 

Despite the deep and gravelly voice you were met with that might have at a previous date struck fear into your usually non-confrontational heart. But right now you were beyond the point of caring. 

“Who the  _ fuck  _ do you think you are?” You didn’t care as the odd lights in his sockets widened. You didn’t care that he was surprised. “For a week fucking straight I have put up with dealing with this shit every fucking night! First it was just the music, but now you think that I’m going to just accept being lied to and expected to be placated while you continue to do whatever the fuck you want? Fuck you!” You were frothing, your voice jumping in violent bursts of anger, fists balled white-knuckled at your sides. The skeleton in front of you had raised both hands, similar to Papyrus. He had a large grin on his face. You couldn’t decide whether it was nervous or mocking. 

“Woah now, first of all, I’m Sans. That’s who the fuck I think I am.” His grin stayed on his face as he spoke seemingly without moving a muscle… bone… whatever. “Secondly, you need to _mellow-_ dy down. We never meant to cause any _treble_.” He reached out to lend a hand to your shoulder, but you dodge away from his touch and smack it away with a bit too much force.

“Are you  _ mocking  _ me? _ ”  _ you asked, outraged, feeling the anger wrapping around your brain and making you unable to focus on anything else, hands literally shaking in it as you considered whether to punch him in the eye socket or not. In fact, you stepped back to do just that when a loud and familiar voice shocked you out of your reverie. 

“HUMAN, WHAT ARE YOU- OH! SANS! I SEE YOU’VE MET THE HUMAN!” The skeleton you had been previously dealing with for the passed few days entered your peripheral, your hands dropped back to something that could be called relaxed if no one noticed how tense you really were. 

“Hey bro,” greeted the huskier skeleton, somehow still casual despite that fact that there’s no way in the world he didn’t know you were about to hit him. “We were just talkin’ about our parties the last few days. Our neighbor felt left out.” His grin widened as you swivel your head to glare at him. But Papyrus gasped in a way that could be described as unbelievably dramatic had it been anyone but him. Something in your heart told you that he was always like this. Papyrus moved to stand next to what was revealed to be his brother, and now that he entered your direct line of sight you couldn’t help but notice the apron still hanging untied and loose over his chest, the crumpled cloth hat in his hands. His polo shirt had the logo of a popular restaurant near by. Something inside of you caused you to relax all at once. So he hadn’t lied to you. 

That, however, didn’t change that fact that he was staring at you with wide eyes (if that was even possible) looking put-upon and relieved all at once. 

“IS THAT TRUE, HUMAN?” You didn’t even get the chance to answer before he continued. “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SO??? OF COURSE OUR LOUD CELEBRATING FILLED YOU WITH JEALOUSY! SO CLOSE, AND YET UNABLE TO JOIN IN! OH, HUMAN-” was he crying? It was like something out of a soap opera. Yet… you couldn’t bring yourself to be annoyed. Everything Papyrus said or did seemed genuine.

“OF COURSE YOU CAN COME TO OUR PARTIES. ALAS, TOMORROW IS THE LAST FOR AWHILE, BUT I PROMISE IT SHALL BE THE BIGGEST AND BEST OF THEM ALL! WHAT DO YOU SAY?”

In all honesty you had no idea what to say, looking anxiously between Papyrus, (who was looking at you hopefully) and the other skeleton (had he said his name was Sans?). You were gaping like a fish for several moments, mouth opening and closing as you tried to formulate words. But finally you settled on a very unsure...

“...Sure?”

The squeal of delight that came from Papyrus was enough to make your ears ring as he plucked you up into another crushing embrace for the second time that week, and it just occured to you how easy it seemed for him. This guy doesn’t even have any muscle, so how is he so unfazed by your weight? Monsters were strange. Or maybe just him? Probably the latter.

“HUMAN, YOUR ACCEPTANCE BRINGS TEARS IN MY HEART. TEARS OF HAPPINESS OF COURSE! YOU JUST COME BY WHENEVER YOU’RE FREE TOMORROW NIGHT. SANS AND I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR COMPANY AT OUR PARTY! THE MORE THE MERRIER! RIGHT, SANS?”

Sans only stared at you with his wide grin that came across as nothing but mocking and pompous to you, but he was taken out of his trance as his brother gave him an obvious push with his elbow into his ribs, making the shorter brother sputter a small grunt.

“Yeah. What Pap said.”

“EXCELLENT! TOMORROW IT IS THEN, HUMAN! YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN IT BEGINS. WOWIE, I’M SO EXCITED TO FINALLY GET TO KNOW OUR BELOVED NEIGHBOR! I’M SURE WE WILL BE GREAT FRIENDS!”

“F-friends?” You muttered. Papyrus seemed nice and all, but there’s no way in hell you would ever be friends with… what was his name? Oh yeah. Sans.

Sans seemed to be thinking the same thing with his strained smile. You peered at him with pursed lips. Living next to him wasn’t going to be easy. 

  
After a brief good-bye, you returned to your room. You didn’t sleep well considering Papyrus now thought that you’ve just wanted to join in their boisterous parties. You fell into a shallow and unsatisfying attempt at slumber, with nothing but a scowl and a hissed  _ Sans  _ under your breath.


	4. Neighbor Traitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't go as planned. Not like you had a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so fucking long oh my god

 

It was at 2:47 the following day when you found yourself complaining to your friends, and you were _traumatized_ and they had the gall to LAUGH at you!

“...And then he hugged me, again!” came your indignant voice, tossing both of your hands up in the air as the furrier of the pair snorted around the butt of his cigarette. Napstablook was also smiling, a rare sight. Usually you would be happy to see it, but in this moment the only way you could describe your emotion was "grossly offended”.

"Et tu, Blooky?" you asked your pale floating friend, who continued to quietly laugh at you, soft and bouncy-sounding chuckles as he gently rose and fell with each intake. However, your other companion and Napstablook’s roommate, Burgerpants, was much more open in his mocking of your pain. You simply glared as he snorted and howled away, eventually giving you a pat on the back with a large and heavy hand...paw...yeah.

"Hang in there, little buddy." he teased, tone much less comforting than the words tried to be. He seemed to be trying to hold back his laughter, but ultimately failing. "Your neighbors don't sound _that_ bad." You simply reiterated your shame at being mocked, and now your most trusted friends were doing the same thing, a faux melodrama to your voice that lend a "woe is me" perception as you placed the back of your hand to your head and groaned.

"What did you say they look like again?" asked the cat man as you finished your episode. You immediately flushed, having purposefully left out the fact that your neighbors were skeletons and your reaction to them as such.

“Uhm…” You briefly wondered if it was alright to mention to your friends that your neighbors were skeletons. Although Napstablook and Burgerpants have educated you about the social aspects of monsters, you still weren’t sure if referring to a monster as a skeleton would be considered speciesist or something. Who knew- maybe skeletons were some kind of unspoken monster minority? Maybe they preferred the term “boned-folk”? No no no, scratch that, that sounded horrible.

"One’s tall and lanky, and the other one’s...big. But shorter." was all you said, rubbing the back of your neck. You were tired of thinking about the brothers for the meantime. Your friends both gave you a wary look, but otherwise dropped the subject. You had been complaining about those neighbors for nearly twenty minutes now, no need to reach the half-hour mark. Time to move onto something else.

Burgerpants seemed to be a step ahead of you as he stood from the disgusting green couch you all had been sitting in to reach for a small miniature fridge lazily placed nearby, leaning down to grab and hand you a bottle of cold light beer, flicking his cigarette to remove the excess ashes, falling to the ground to soil the already stained carpet of the small dorm room.

“...Burgerpants… please use the ashtray… I don’t want to clean up your messes again…” Napstablook’s voice seemed more confident than it usually did as he attempted to scold his room mate. “...Last time you got ashes on the floor, I almost choked on them trying to clean them up.”

“How does that even work? You’re a ghost.” Burgerpants spat his words at him in more of a teasing manner than a threatening one, and Napstablook turned translucent for a moment.

“Hey man-” you butt in (pun intended), popping the cap of your beer open and taking a swig in the meanwhile. It was terrible, but drinking this stuff had become kind of a tradition between the three of you, despite you actually just being one year under the legal drinking age. The details of how this tradition arose had become lost in time. “Blooky’s just doing his best.” The ghost became a bit more visible with the reassurance that he was appreciated. Burgerpants shrugged loftily, trying to take a drag from the cigarette that had probably should’ve been tossed aside several minutes ago. But hey, they were expensive.

You vaguely remembered your pals reminiscing about life in the Underground upon occasion, Napstablook’s quality of life having gone through the roof since becoming a musician in the band of the famous robot, Mettaton, also doing DJ work on the side. You couldn’t give a hoot about his overly-synthesized cousin, but you were happy for him.

Burgerpants, on the other hand, said things were a lot better, but not that different. He was a manager at a diner near the upscale restaurant you worked at. That was how you met, actually, both going to the tiny convenience store between the two to get cigarettes and a soda respectively. In your rush you had bumped into him, and upon noticing that you both were in uniform you bonded over how terrible jobs were and agreed to meet up and chat some time. He apparently used to work for a burger place owned by none other than Napstablook’s cousin back in the Underground. Once he told you it was like working for the “most fickle high-functioning microwave you’ve ever seen.” You suspected this had something to do with his nickname, but he wouldn’t tell you… Blooky had also confided that the cat man had seemed way more relaxed in the past few months.

So honestly you were really happy for them both.

Not much had changed for you in the past few years. You were in class most of the time, working the rest, hanging out with a few friends or studying in the few sparse moments of freedom. The biggest difference recently was your noisy neighbors, speaking of which-

“Ugh, what do I even wear to a party like that?” you complained about it for the umpteenth time, beer coming dangerously close to sloshing out of the bottle with your wild gesticulating. Burgerpants shrugged.

“Wear something that says, _I can get it on, but not with you_ , you know?” You laughed and hit him in the arm, but he just grinned at you, already having had a beer too many and enjoying the freedom of speech that seemed to come with the redness to his face. The rest of the afternoon consisted of you all discussing ridiculous revenge tactics while Napstablook would interject every once in awhile, mostly to say that you should wear a hat. They almost made you forget about the imminent stressful situation that was the party, your laughter free and loud and rancorous. It was nice.

Really nice.

You didn’t end up wearing a hat, instead looking in the mirror at precisely 8:56 to review the outfit you had chosen. A pair of nicer black shorts and a t-shirt that had something funny written on the front. It wasn’t like you were going to dinner. When you thought “house party” you thought “trashy,” and you wanted to be a bit above that.

Still, as you tugged on some shoes and left your apartment, locking the door, only to take three steps to the door next to yours left you feeling ridiculous. For the first time since last Saturday you hesitated, before lifting your hand and rapping on the wood. It took a minute, but when it finally opened you weren’t as surprised as you should have been when Papyrus hugged you so tight you could barely breath, giving you a huge smile when he pulled away. Today his crop top said “Stay Beautiful,” except the “Beautiful” and been crossed out and “Papyrus” had been written above it in what appeared to be sharpie. You snorted at the mental image of him looking over his work with a pensive expression, and managed a weak smile back.

“OOH, I’M SO HAPPY YOU CAME, HUMAN. THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN! I’LL HAVE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS!” he began clapping his hands together excitedly before pulling you in and slamming the door shut. There was a few cheap-looking machines in the corners of the living room flashing party lights, and there was loud synth-filled music filling the air. Many monsters of different shapes and sizes danced in the center of what seems to be the living room while many were talking and laughing in groups around them. Of what you can see past the monsters, there seemed to be a ratty old couch against the wall in the center of the living room, a photo-realistic painting of a bone, a side-table with what seemed like a rock and a book sitting on it. To the left of you just past the entrance was a small open kitchen with tiled flooring, and in a hall past the living room in the center probably led to the bedrooms.

Papyrus took you by the arm and swung you straight into the midst of the party. Many monsters turned to look at you with wide eyes in surprise, some in caution.

“ATTENTION, EVERYONE! THIS HERE IS MY FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR!” He shouted out your name and you swear you never hear anyone say your name so proudly and confidently in your entire life. You felt like royalty being announced your presence like this. You smile wide as Papyrus seemed so excited to introduce you to all the people here, but you lift an arm to rub at your raised shoulder, bashful at the same time. Some monsters waved, while others shouted “hello”s, and some decided to walk (or slither) over to greet you themselves.

“HUMAN! DO YOU REQUIRE ANY BEVERAGES? WOULD YOU PREFER ANY OF THE ALCOHOLIC VARIETY?”

You hadn’t noticed before but Papyrus hadn’t released your arm since he dragged you into the party. He even held it when you were introducing yourself to his friends. Oddly… you didn’t mind. It wasn't a grip that was hurtful or seemed possessive. He had a light hold on you. It was kind of nice.

No… ridiculous. You pursed your lips together, questioning that last thought.

“HUMAN?”

Oh. He asked you a question.

“Sure, sure…” You nodded as you snapped back to reality. “Anything’s fine. Thank you.”

“NO NEED FOR THANKS, HUMAN! COME, I HAVE A WIDE ASSORTMENT OF BEVERAGE READY FOR PERUSING ON YOUR BEHALF!” And with that, he led you into the kitchen, where you were greeted with a familiar shorter skeleton sitting at the counter with a large and well-built fish woman. Her hair was in a tight and high ponytail, a stark and loud red, contrasting the desaturated blue tone of her skin. Between them was a short dinosaur-dragon looking girl, wearing a purple anime t-shirt. She adjusted her glasses, holding a phone.

“O-okay guys, remember. You’re supposed to put the shot glass down once you finish the drink.”

“I’ve been doing that the whole time!” The fish woman interjected with a shout, but her wide grin showing off her huge fangs displayed that she wasn’t actually mad.

“Undyne, you’ve broken every single glass so far. And Sans, you’re not supposed to eat the entire glass. T-that’s cheating.” the dinosaur woman reprimanded.

“Sorry.” He teased, “I guess I’m just a little bit of a _screwball_.” Everyone groaned at this.

“Okay, one two…”

And on the count of three, Sans and Undyne threw back their glasses, and almost immediately Undyne slammed her fist down, the glass shattering in thousands of shards. The monsters crowding around the three whooped and shouted, clapping their hands and raising their fists and claws in the air.

“HAAA! TAKE THAT, SPARE RIB!” She posed, chin up with her arms flexing. Something about her seemed familiar as she stood so confidently. Her face was already flushed, her cheeks dusted with a purple hue. Sans threw his hands up in defeat, giving her a wink.

“You win, you win.”

She let out a tremendous howl of laughter, slapping Sans on the back of his jacket.

“Hey, at least you’re noble.”

“What’re you talking about? I’m a skeleton, not a duck. Of course I have _no bill_.”

Undyne’s face contorted to disgust before snorting and emitting ugly laughter. Alphys’ hand was to her cheek with a meek smile.

“S-Sans, that was awful a-and you know it! How drunk are you?”

Before Sans could answer that question, he was interrupted as you were thrown into the room with Papyrus, who was shouting like a banshee. Tasmanian devils would be jealous.

“SANS! HOW COULD YOU LET UNDYNE BREAK ALL THE SHOT GLASSES AGAIN?! THAT'S THE THIRD TIME THIS WEEK. NOW I HAVE TO GO OUT AND BUY MORE!” He let go of your arm for the first time tonight to rest his hands on his bare hips.

“Aw, bro, don’t be so harsh.” Sans didn’t seem to have the energy to make a pun, laying his skull on crossed arms on the counter. Papyrus just glared at him, his gesture to take a seat a bit more halting than if he had been as perky as a moment ago. You couldn’t help but chuckle softly as you moved to sit, but as you stepped towards the stool your foot came down on a stray piece of glass, causing you to slip and land hard on your tailbone. It was a flurry of motion, and by the time you realized what happened Papyrus is loudly scolding Sans.

“SEE WHAT I MEAN? YOUR TOM-FOOLERY CAUSED THE HUMAN TO FALL AND-” you groaned from your place on the floor, feeling where a bruise was forming that would probably make it hurt to sit down tomorrow. The taller skeleton immediately changed his tune upon noticing you were actually hurt. Worried, he kneeled in front of you and offered his hand. “HUMAN ARE YOU A..” you didn’t know why he had trailed off, having started to lift your hand to take his, but it was only now that you noticed a piece of glass wedged into the heel of your hand. You hadn’t felt it in the sudden-ness of your fall, and now Papyrus flinched back before your hands could touch. His eyes were wide as you cursed to yourself, watching as blood began to seep from where the glass met skin. The skeleton fumbled for words for several seconds, both eyes locked on the wound and even Sans had looked up.

“OH. OH GOD. OH MY GOD.” he hyperventilated, hands going out to grab at your wrist. You hissed, instinctually tugging your hand back, but his grip was firm without being painful, looking more freaked out than you even as he kept you from potentially hurting yourself more. The monsters that were still around after the drinking contest watched as the tall brother hovered over you. Some seemed surprised, others sneered.

“HUMAN- YOU ARE SERIOUSLY INJURED!” He panicked, one hand moving further up your arm, gripping towards your elbow as he helped you stand. You tried to insist you were fine, but before you could even utter a syllable he had you on the stool you were supposed to sit on in the first place, arm laid out on the counter, his phalanges picking at the glass. “SANS, GET A BANDAGE.” Papyrus sounded more serious than you had ever heard him, (which, to be fair, wasn’t a lot) but it didn’t frighten you. You felt- safe. Almost. Sans straightened, watching with an unreadable expression before slipping off out of the kitchen.

“...Bathroom?” was all you could manage, and the skeleton’s expression turned from worry to shock to bashfulness in the span of a few seconds.

“OF COURSE- I DIDN’T- I- I WASN’T...IT’S THIS WAY.” He turned a surprisingly bright shade of orange, presumably embarrassed at not thinking of that first. But you didn’t push it, just wanting to get this taken care of before you bled all over their kitchen. With that he led you to a small bathroom down the hallway across the living room, white and tiled, an exact replica to your own, overlooking the shifted format. He turned on the sink before you could attempt to, seeming fifty shades of apologetic as he didn’t adjust the tap.

“ALTHOUGH, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN DO MANY WONDROUS THINGS, FEELING TEMPERATURE IS NOT ONE OF THEM.” he explained simply. You nodded, not bothering; you didn’t mind the cold. Though as you none-too-gently tugged the shard from your skin you did let out a pained hiss, which only increased in volume as you forced your hand under the water. The sink ran red. Fuck. Papyrus was staring, gaze very intent, but you ignored in in favor of nursing your injury. Sans chose that moment to hand his brother a bandage from behind him where you couldn’t see, only his arm sliding into your field of vision. The taller of the skeletons said something to the other, but it was low, and you couldn’t make it out with your blood pounding in your ears. You didn’t have long to focus though, because the next thing you knew Papyrus was gently guiding your hand from the water, not seeming to mind getting his own wet. He spoke as he started to wrap the bandage around your hand.

“HUMAN, I AM VERY, VERY SORRY THAT THIS UNFORTUNATE OCCURRENCE TOOK PLACE. I AM USUALLY THE MOST EXCELLENT HOST, AND GUARANTEE SAFETY AND FUN TO EACH OF MY GUESTS. BUT I GUESS I WAS SO EXCITED FOR ALL THE FUN WE WERE GOING TO HAVE THAT I OVERLOOKED THE “SAFETY” PART. WILL YOU LET ME MAKE IT UP TO YOU?"

You gaped at him for a few moments, forgetting the pain of the fabric touching your wound until it was completely covered and taped down.

“No… No, it’s fine. I’ll be okay.”

“BUT HUMAN, I INSIST!” Papyrus retorted, his hands balled up in fists.

“No seriously- it’s fine! We can just go back to the party… okay?” You looked up at him through your lashes, trying not to make Papyrus make a big deal out of this. You just wanted to survive the night and go back to your apartment. You just wanted the night to end as smoothly as possible and hopefully have a good night’s sleep and never have to interact too much with your new neighbors again. Sure, you felt a little guilty thinking about never having to interact with Papyrus ever again, but overall you felt like your life would go by a little easier.

“WELL…” Papyrus tilted his head, pressing an index finger at his chin before giving up. “IF YOU SAY SO, HUMAN. BACK TO OUR MERRYMAKING!” And he took your arm again. The two of you returned to the kitchen as you made a beeline to your bar stool, surprisingly not seeing Sans still at the scene, instead Undyne and the dinosaur girl chatting and sipping from drinks until Papyrus called to them as he reached into a cabinet to get you a glass rather than the plastic cups everyone else were using.

“ALPHYS, UNDYNE? WHERE HAS SANS GONE?”

“Sans just went off somewhere after he came back a-and uh… cleaned up all the glass off the floor.” the dinosaur-girl, Alphys, stated after tearing away from her conversation with Undyne. Papyrus paused his movements at that for a few solid seconds before slowly closing the cabinet door.

“...OH. REALLY? WELL… GOOD! GOOD.” He stumbled over his words, and you realize he didn’t actually expect his brother to clean up. You huffed at that thought, raising a brow before Papyrus slid the short glass to you

“What’s this?” you asked. You were proud to consider yourself smart enough not to drink something without being aware of it’s contents. Papyrus grinned, waving a hand in the general direction of the refrigerator.

“IT IS JUICE OF THE ORANGE, PINEAPPLE, AND CHERRY VARIETY WITH, UH-”

“Vodka.” Undyne cut in, raising her glass which seemed to be the alcohol she mentioned not mixed with anything.

“YES, THAT!”

“...K.” You brought the glass to your lips, and it was only a short moment before you had drained the whole thing. It was refreshingly delicious. “Another.” you croaked, and your new (...well, not friends, acquaintances?) seemed happy to oblige.

Three drinks later and Papyrus was starting to lecture you on the dangers of alcohol consumption. He was, however, interrupted by Sans meandering into the room. He looked from Papyrus, to you, to where Undyne and Alphys once were but had stumbled off to presumably make out about two drinks ago, to finally the drink in front of you.

“A Fruit Loop. That suits you.” said he, a grin on his face like he was cracking a joke.

“Wow. Fuck you.” was all you replied, totally smashed at this point. His smile shrunk a diminutive amount, not enough for you to notice in a drunken haze. Papyrus ignored your foul mouth, instead crossing around the counter to place a hand on your shoulder, nudging you to your feet.

“HUMAN, I BELIEVE I SHOULD ESCORT YOU HOME NOW, FOR YOUR SAFETY.” he said, nodding to himself as if affirming what he just decided. You were too fucked up to say anything about it, and Papyrus led you through the living room, stumbling and trying not to bump into things as the party was still going strong. Right before he helped you out the door though, you happened a glance at the DJ booth.

“Blooky!” you shouted, and to say the small ghost looked startled to see you was an understatement. Drunkenly, you shouted- “YOU’RE A TRAITOR.”

“Oh no.” came his wispy voice over the crowd. “Oh _nooooo_ .” You watched him disappear from existence as you nearly tripped out the door and into the dim hallway. _I’ll show him a what-for next time you see him_ you told yourself in your intoxicated state. Papyrus, however, was a perfect gentleman and unlocked and opened your door for you, but immediately placed the keys back into your hands and instructed you to “drink a lot of water when you wake up” in a voice that sounded suspiciously like the one he used to lecture his brother with. The door closed in your face, leaving you alone in your apartment

  
The music hadn’t stopped, but you slept like a rock that night.


	5. Neighbor Invader

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You were wrong.

You woke promptly at 12:38 p.m. with a splitting headache and a mouth so arid you could dry herbs in there.

Getting up too fast resulted in nearly falling down either onto the floor or the messy bed. After steadying yourself for what felt like several minutes you finally managed to shuffle like a zombie into the kitchen to fetch yourself some much-needed water. 

Two glasses later, you smacked your lips a few times to finally get rid of the nasty, gritty morning taste before deciding to just take a shower. Perhaps it will clear your head a bit. You had nothing particularly planned to do today, having finally finished your essay, which you were glad for considering how your head was pounding with the reminder of your supposed “fun” from the previous night. Everything was a bit spotty, but you remembered your gratefulness to Papyrus, and also your anger at Sans for insulting you. You didn’t recall what he said, but did it matter? No. You knew his type. You didn’t need to remember what he said.

These are the thoughts you had as the hot water pelted your skin. The shower was one of the few places you could really stop and think about whatever you wanted, as adverse to whatever you had to think about for school or work or whatnot. As you scrubbed bubbly shampoo into your scalp, the relaxing Sunday euphoria waned by the tint of dread for the inevitable coming school day. It wasn’t that you particularly disliked your classes, no- the constant work was just draining. 

Half an hour later you were sitting on your bed draped in several fluffy towels, not wanting to get dressed yet, having long dried, but the softness of the towel fabric and the comfort of your nudity made it hard to actually move on with your life after showering. Usually the steam and suds cleared your head, and even though the pain had calmed down your mind still continued to drift back to last night.

It was when you lifted your hand to sift through your hair that you really began to remember exactly what had happened: drinking contests, glass shattering, and its shards plunging deep into your hand. You remember the delicate touch of bone-tipped fingers, a concerned voice and fruity drinks. The wet gauze on your hand was drooping a bit after being soaked from the shower, and you considered it was probably a good idea to re-wrap the wound in dry material. Did… Did you even have bandages? Or gauze? God, you never thought you would need those things. It’s not like you ever expected to get hurt in any way, much less get stabbed in the hand by glass shards that were covering the floor like a fire-walking ceremony. You huffed irritably. Those skeletons were causing you more trouble than just sleepless nights… wait, on second thought, scratch that. 

Either way, yesterday had been their last party, meaning that you never had to interact with them ever again if you didn’t want to. It was kind of a mean thought, but they just exhausted you. Papyrus was nice and all, but you really wanted to avoid his brother- and if that meant leaving him behind as well, then so be it. 

These thoughts kept you pretty stress-free for the rest of the day, spending it playing video games and such as well as you could with your injury. When you went to bed that night there was no music, and you were well-assured that the skeleton brothers were out of your life for good.

You were wrong.

Of course, you didn’t know it at the time. But the next day at precisely 8:09 a.m., you were sitting in class as you always did, still groggy in the way that could only be brought about by a Monday morning. You had just started to wonder if you should get some coffee between classes for an energy boost when your teacher loudly addressed someone in the back of the class.

“Sir, if you could sit up. This class is for _learning_ , not for _napping_.” 

The class erupted in muffled and smothered giggles, you yourself torn between smirking and feeling bad for the poor sap who got chewed out by the professor. You turned, just a bit, so you could see them out of your peripheral, and your smile fell when you noticed the familiar blue hood and white skull. He seemed to notice you at the same moment you noticed him, and you faced forward again with an embarrassed frown as you had seen his grin get wider. 

You didn’t dare look back for the rest of class, but you swore you could _feel_ his gaze boring into the back of your skull. It made it hard to take notes, not hearing the teacher to distinguish whether she had said 1967 or 1976. You tapped your pencil on the desk anxiously and when the professor dismissed class you were the first person to leave in a flurry of paper. Or at least you thought.

“Hey.” 

You nearly jumped out of your skin with a very undignified “ _Fuck!”_ as the skeleton seemed to suddenly pop next to you almost out of nowhere, just smiling at your language and as you elected to ignore him and continue walking. You held your books angrily to your chest. Fuck this day, fuck that class, and fuck him.

“Whoa, kid, what’s the rush?” he somehow managed to seem relaxed even keeping pace with your quick, frustrated steps. You still didn’t say anything, because how can you say “I’m mad because I thought I’d never see you again and here you are” without sounding like an asshole? 

“Beautiful day outside.” he continued as if you had answered him, gesturing. It was, but you were too busy glaring at your feet to notice. You two continued walking, him casually strolling beside you as you rushed forward silently, hoping that he would get bored and leave. But it wasn’t until you actually reached your next class that you realized he seemed to have no intention of leaving. 

“Don’t tell me you have this one, too.” you groaned, hesitating by the door because you weren’t that much of a jerk to go in and leave him standing there, though it was tempting.

“Would that be a bad thing?” he leered, and you frowned at the implication that maybe he knew you didn’t like him. _Oh well,_ you steeled yourself _that would just make it easier._ But you couldn’t make yourself just say yes, instead settling on a quieter...

“What do you want?” He seemed actually surprised at the question, as strained as it was coming from you. The little lights in his eyes expanded a bit, if that was even possible, but he seemed to just give you that annoying grin all the more. 

“Just to say hi. Toodles.” With that he gave you a mock salute and lumbered off before you could rebuttal. You stood there for a few seconds in red-faced outrage, before stomping into your class and sitting down at your desk a bit too hard. Who does he think he is? You pondered until the teacher started talking and you had to take notes.

You felt a gentle tap on your shoulder, followed by a familiar hushed voice.

“What’s your problem?” 

You looked over your shoulder to see Burgerpants, who was hunched over his desk with his pencil in his other paw and notebook long forgotten on his desk, as not one mark was left on the clear page. He gave you an inquiring look as you seethed to yourself. You shook your head, waving a hand at him for a second before you could even manage to think of how to express yourself. 

“ _Skeletons_.” you punctuated with a slap to your desk. He snerked, laughing at you. But it did help to calm your nerves as you shook your head, turning around again to endure the rest of class.

  
Damn it- you forgot your coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, it's a transition to the rest of the story!! : D We'll have the next chapter up really soon.


	6. Neighbor Waiter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You eat out for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have no excuse for how late this chapter is, honestly. We kinda let college, summer, work and vacation trips to big cities kind of got the hold of us, I guess. We'll be putting more of an effort to post more consistently in the future. Anyhow, I hope this chapter helps us finally kick shit off in the right direction, eh? - Cascy

This day could not get any worse.

It was currently 5:43 p.m. and you were just _now_ walking home from school. You silently seethed as you marched along the chilly street. First you had to deal with that numb skull (pun definitely _not_ intended), then you could barely pay attention in class, and then not only did one of your professors ask you to stay after to ask about your progress on a project that you had _completely forgotten about_ , but then when you actually went to leave- you tripped and papers had gone everywhere! Thankfully they were still salvageable, but now they donned a new dried mildewed appearance.

You were late to get home, your stomach rioting, but you still had piles of homework to do. You had forgotten to bring a jacket earlier that morning and funny enough, a sudden cold front moved in just in time to make your day just a little bit worse. Delightful. You crossed your arms, shivering in a tight ball of self-pity when you felt the first droplet on your nose.

Great. Just…

Fantastic.

You probably couldn’t have even counted to ten before the sky opened up above you, a torrent of rain quickly soaking you to the bone. You hurried your pace, groaning to yourself. You didn’t need any more reminders of your annoying smiley neighbor for at least the rest of the day. Hunching into yourself further as you tried to ignore the downpour, you willed yourself to continue your trek home…

Okay, no, you were way too much of a wimp. The rain was ice-cold and the velocity of the downpour nearly felt like every drop was pelting at your skin like little angry water bullets.

For the next few yards you now scanned the shops you had previously ignored for any “open” signs, finally finding one. Blinking with a bright neon green and ducking through the door with a soft chime of the store’s bell. you were immediately hit with the scent of delicious food, smoky and rich… so a restaurant then. It was small and dimly lit, cozy with a nice atmosphere. It seemed to be bustling at the moment with the dinner crowd, the murmurs of families and couples talking among one another. The hostess standing behind a small podium seemed vaguely startled by your appearance.

“Hello! How many?” she asked, smile strained, obviously concerned over you dripping all over the wooden floors.

“Oh, no. If I could just wait here until I-”

“HUMAN!”

Oh.

Oh no.

Your head darted up and you immediately gave a thin smile to Papyrus, who had suddenly burst from behind the hostess. Her eyes nearly popped out of her eye sockets and her smile fell a bit at Papyrus’ entrance, and it continued to fall with his prolonged presence.

“Oh! Hey, you- you work here!” you greeted, clearing your throat when your voice came out too anxious for your liking. You shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly, and Papyrus seemed momentarily surprised and disappointed that you hadn’t come for the purpose of visiting him, but a look of concern squashed it a moment later. How could a skeleton be so expressive?

“YES I DO INDEED WORK HERE, AND WHILE I WOULD LOVE TO LET YOU MARVEL AT HOW EXCELLENT I AM AT MY JOB, WHICH IS WHAT YOU OBVIOUSLY DESIRE- YOU ARE SHAKING!”

Oh. So you were. It seemed the cold and the wet had gotten to you a bit more than you had originally realized, and here you were dripping on the floor of this lobby and trembling like a leaf, or a sad abandoned puppy. Before you could open your mouth and state your leave, Papyrus had stepped around the hostess and lunged forward, his hand grasping your wrist lightly but protectively as he led you into the restaurant instead, straight to a booth in the back corner. The whole restaurant was pretty calm, just the soft murmurs of people quietly at their tables. The friendly atmosphere only intensified with the warm lighting and bright red seating of the booth and the bright red tabletop. It wasn’t nearly as black-tie as the place you worked, but it was a decent place. You were a bit too focused on how your fingers were going numb to wonder too much at the decor.

“I WILL RETURN MOMENTARILY.” Papyrus ruffled your hair kindly before disappearing without a trace, and you wondered how he wasn’t grossed out at your rain-soaked and matted locks. Had you even taken a shower that morning? You couldn't recall.

He was only gone for a minute or two, returning with a bowl of something steaming and a mug of the same regard. Over his arm was slung what appeared to be a bright orange hoodie and a plastic bag, which he hurriedly handed off to you.

“I APOLOGIZE THAT I ONLY HAVE THIS, HUMAN NEIGHBOR FRIEND,  BUT FEEL FREE TO USE IT TO DRY OFF FASTER!” The fabric was soft, and you looked up at him with wide eyes as he listed off the direction to where the bathrooms were.

“Er, Papyrus, y-you really don’t have to do this...” you started, still hugging yourself, giving the most composed smile you could possibly muster while looking like a sorry soaked animal. Sure you were freezing, but he was taking time away from his job just to help you. You barely even knew him. He seemed slightly offended, but stepped into a heroic stance, one hand on his hip as the other shot to his chest.

“OF COURSE I DO! IT IS WHAT FRIENDS DO, AFTER ALL! NOW, IF YOU EXCUSE ME I MUST RETURN TO WORK, BUT FEEL FREE TO STAY AS LONG AS YOU LIKE.” and with a twist of his heel, The Great Papyrus was gone.

You watched him leave and disappear behind the metallic kitchen doors and for a moment, you sat in the faux-leather seat of the booth, feeling… warm, despite your trembling extremities. You turned back and faced the front of the restaurant, catching the glance at the hostess from before, who now seemed to be talking to another worker about something, close together. They were too far away for you to pick up on their voices or read their lips, so you settled on eyeing the kitchen doors again.

After a minute of hesitation you finally stood and shuffled to the bathroom, making sure no one was inside with you before peeling off your soaking shirt. Nothing could be done about your pants for now unfortunately, but this was better than nothing. Shirt in the bag, you tugged on the pullover hoodie, and it was even softer on the inside. You felt warmer already as you exited, returning to your table. The soup Papyrus left was delicious- creamy and robust, along with the drink which you discovered to be cocoa.

It wasn’t long before you felt warm and fuzzy all the way through. It was still raining outside, but you were full and content. If it weren’t for the fact that you were in public, you’d probably fall asleep in the booth. So to keep yourself occupied, you pulled your phone from your bag (relieved water hadn’t permeated through it) and surfed videos and click bait articles until your moody lighting was cut off by a tall shadow above you.

“I Have Finished Work For Tonight.” Papyrus informed you, already untying and removing his black apron with a sigh. He seemed a little more tired than before, his boisterous tenor oddly softer than it usually was, though he still donned an optimistic smile upon his bony cheeks. Had a few hours really gone by? His exuberant cheeriness easily masked the fact that he probably worked very hard. Perhaps maybe too hard, his posture seemed more slack than usual.

“Oh! Uh, what do I owe you?” You felt eager to pay him back somehow, quickly unzipping and digging in your school bag. Before you could find your wallet, though, a bony hand was covering your own, pulling it away from your belongings. He looked down at you earnestly. You straightened, feeling something inside you… something… odd.

“ALL I ASK IS YOUR COMPANY ON MY RIDE HOME!”

He seemed so sincere with that bright smile and naive sing-song tone that you couldn’t even muster up the desire to protest. Instead you just nodded. You swallowed down your disagreements for now, instead just gathering your things and following him outside.

Papyrus had an umbrella, which he opened over the both of you as you walked around to the back of the restaurant. He also had a shiny red sports car, which you gaped at as he unlocked it, holding the door open for you in a gentlemanly fashion. He noted how he doesn’t usually drive the thing to work, but Sans couldn’t help pestering him about the rain. You shrugged the comment off. You really didn’t want to think about Sans right now, but you had to admit that it was… endearing.

Even more surprising than his choice in vehicle was his ability in maneuvering it. Despite your assumptions, he was an oddly good driver, leaving your usual first-time-passenger anxiety dissuaded and allowing you the time to think and watch the raindrops race from one end of your passenger side window to the other, Papyrus not once interrupting the sound of rain on the windows and the hum of the engine, his focus completely on the road. That was something you definitely didn’t expect.

You thought over the course of the whole day, how it had been turned around so quickly. You really didn’t deserve all this kindness, you inwardly told yourself, and then quickly felt a wash of shame. Just this morning you were considering not even speaking to Papyrus again. Just because his brother was an asshole didn’t mean he deserved for you to shun him.

No, you decided. You would be Papyrus’ friend, even if it meant seeing Sans around on a regular basis.

Mind made up, it wasn’t long before you had arrived back at your apartment complex. You and Papyrus walked into the establishment together, him chattering happily about his day and how work had been, you smiling and nodding along, content. Just like after the party, he walked you right up to your door, letting you get it unlocked and opened before waving goodbye.

“HAVE A NICE EVENING, HUMAN!  AND FEEL FREE TO RETURN MY JACKET ANY TIME.” He retreated into his apartment before you could process that, and as you closed the door to your own apartment you were struck with the realization that you were wearing _his_ jacket. That was a little obvious, cause who else's could it be? The bright thing clung loosely on your form, the sleeves threatening to creep past your fingernails. The thought made your face flush and a warm, tight feeling rose up in your chest. Man, he really was kind.

After a few hours of hard work putting a dent in your homework, you retired for the night. Papyrus’ hoodie laundered and set on your coffee table to be returned tomorrow, you told yourself that things could only get better from here.

  
There was no music seeping through the wall this night, and you didn’t dream.

**Author's Note:**

> C: Hello, and thank you for reading mine and my girlfriend's first joint fic! We are college students ourselves and began writing this during our holiday break. We will try our very best to update as frequently as possible, but since we both live apart and are workin' hard on our studies, just consider this a warning. Cascy, out!


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